Thunder and Lightening
by Runs with Werewolfs
Summary: "Ever since she was 7 and her step dad left, she's been terrified of thunderstorms". James/Katie friendship from James POV. Mentions of Kames and Cargan


**Thunder and Lightning**

* * *

To say that Katie Knight doesn't like thunderstorms would be an understatement. Ever since she was 7 and her step dad left, she's been completely freaked out by them. They terrify her.

I can remember that night like it was yesterday. Katie was 7, Kendall was 12. Kendall and I had been best friends for as long as I could remember, ever since we met at the park when we were hardly old enough to walk. Our mom's hit it off and we'd been close ever since. Logan joined us when we were 6. . I'd liked Logan the moment he'd helped me patch up a booboo without having to go to the teacher, even at 6, it had killed my pride to go get help. Carlos had joined when we were 8, and no one would sit next to the kid in the superman outfit and helmet who wouldn't shut up for 5 seconds, except Logan. I'd liked Carlos the moment he'd told me he liked my shirt. Kendall had liked Carlos the first time he saw Carlos with Carlos' little sister Cassidy.

So that night, Logan's 13th birthday, we had spent the night at Kendall's house because Kendall's mom always had the best food, the best games, the best everything. It was a rainy, stormy night and Kendall had just stood up to go check on Katie, like he always did every night. He still did, even though she's 15 now and he's not going to be living here beyond tonight. Kendall asked me to come with him in case the power went out. We had got to the door when we had heard yelling and Katie crying. Kendall had run to his mom's defense, so I had gone to Katie, since besides Kendall, I was basically her big brother. I had heard a slapping noise and screaming and Kendall shouting nonsense. Then, Mr. Kurching, Kendall's step dad, had come in to Katie's room to come after her, but I had kept him away from her long enough for Kendall and Logan and Carlos to attack.

I had literally held her in my arms, shielding her from him. I had taken several blows from him, one to the head, one to the side, but Katie hadn't gotten hurt because of me. Katie had at least not been physically harmed that night and that was what made it okay that I had gotten hurt. The little girl hadn't been pummeled by the 35 year old man with muscles the size of small cows.

The next morning, we had surveyed the damage. Logan had a split lip, but a huge grin on his face. Carlos had a bruise on his arm, but also had Edwin Kurching's blood dried on his knuckles. Kendall had a black eye and a swollen lip and a missing baby tooth, the only one left, and his stomach had a huge bruise, but he was still smiling widely and he'd knocked out several of his stepfathers tooth. I had gotten off with the least, just a couple punches, but I had a sense of pride because I had protected Katie. Mama Knight had a hand print on her face and her eye was slightly swollen. But everything was okay and they were free.

A month later, the divorce was finalized. Katie had hated thunderstorms ever since. It had turned out that her mom had asked Mr. Kurching to go check on Katie because Katie always been afraid of storms, but it had gotten worse after that night because of what happened. Ever since then, us four boys had taken it on ourselves to watch out for Katie and if there was a thunderstorm, you could guarantee that you'd find her in one of our beds, or one of us in her bed, or all five of us sleeping on her floor the next morning. We were her brothers and we had to take care of her, because she needed it. It was the one time she needed us to take care of her.

Tonight was a hard one. Logan, Carlos and Kendall weren't home, and Ms. Knight wasn't either. It was just me and Katie. Yes, normally it's weird for all three of them to go somewhere without me, but Logan and Carlos had already done my bachelor party two nights ago and they said I couldn't go to Kendall's because that would be weird.

Tomorrow afternoon, I would officially be Katie's older brother. Kendall and I had always been slightly touchy-feely with each other, so when we had started dating, no one had been that shocked. In fact, Gustavo had said he'd wondered how long we were going to wait before telling him. And we'd been dating for an hour at that point. Everyone had just kind of assumed we already had been for quite some time because of how physical we always were with each other. Same reason they figured if Kendall and I weren't together than Kendall and Logan were and Carlos and I were. I found Carlos and I dating hilarious and bizarre because Carlos and I would end up killing each other and we just didn't make sense, not like that. Carlos and Logan are just my best friends. Kendall is my everything. So, no surprise that we're dating.

Likewise, when Kendall had proposed, no one had really been that surprised. I guess everyone kind of assumed we'd end up together. Kendall was pretty possessive of me and he'd never been that way about anyone else he'd dated. Everyone just kind of figured after the first time he'd yelled at someone for calling me hot that either Kendall was a basket case (which was still a distinct possibility) or he realized how good he had it and wasn't about to let that go.

So tonight, Carlos and Logan had taken Kendall somewhere and then he was crashing at Kelly's apartment. Carlos and Logan were being traditionalists about the whole thing. Kendall wasn't allowed to see me before the wedding. I don't know how I got voted to be the one that got given away and all that, but it had happened. Probably something to do with Kendall being the possessive one. I'd never used the words "Kendall is my bitch" in my life, yet last week, Kendall had referred to me as that. He'd gotten slapped in the back of the head by me and Logan, who was now being referred to as "Carlos' bitch" by Carlos and Kendall, but he'd still called me that. Logan and I put up with a lot in general. I guess it gave us something to talk about when Carlos and Kendall decide they have to go do something for us and won't let us come.

Carlos and Logan couldn't have picked a worse night to leave me alone with Katie. I jump as thunder rolls, I've never really been one for storms either. Storms bring electricity and static and static messes up my hair. I really didn't want to be a frizz ball at my wedding. Hopefully, Logan would have an emergency hair appointment scheduled, just in case. Carlos wouldn't think of it, even though he was my best man, but Logan, who was Kendall's, would be thoughtful like that. Logan and I tended to think things out like that a little better then Carlos and Kendall did. Normally, Carlos and Kendall over powered us because I couldn't say no to Kendall and Logan couldn't say no to Carlos. No one could really say no to Carlos, the moment his eyes get so sad and innocent and you just can't. He knows it too and he uses it.

I look up at the sound of a sob coming from Katie's room. I stand up and head to her room, not even bothering to knock. She's curled up in a corner, dark hair falling over her face. I can't help but smile, she looks so pathetic and like she's 10 again. She looks like she still needs me and Kendall to watch over her at school, like she still needs Logan's help with math homework, like she still needs Carlos' energy to wake her up first thing in the morning. She hasn't needed that in long time.

I sit down next to her, putting an arm around her "Hey, are you okay?" I ask, pulling her as close as I can. She looks up at me, eyes wide. She shakes her head wildly, screaming slightly as lighting flashes through the apartment.

"I'm terrified, James." She hisses through gritted teeth. I pull her into my chest, trying to make her feel semi protected.

"It's okay, Katie, you'll be fine" I say "I'm here."

I hate that man who ruined my family. Scarred Katie like this, left the long scar up my Kendall's back and made Ms. Knight so afraid of falling in love again. I hate him with a burning passion. I love this family so dearly, because when I was 17, right after my parents died in a fire, they took me in. Of course, I'd been dating Kendall for 6 months and I'd lived with them for a year already, but the point was, they were my family. All I had. Besides Logan and Carlos. Carlos' parents were my legal guardians; it would be weird for Ms. Knight, who had been written in the will as my legal guardian to be that, I was dating her son. Logan's parents had adopted my little sister Jessie who was just 6 at the time, since Jessie and Logan's sister Carolina were best friends and still are.

Kendall, Katie and there, _my_ Mom, that was my life at this point, this little family was all I had to turn to when everything was crashing down. I hated that they'd been so damaged by the man. No one had escaped unscathed in our family. Katie hated thunderstorms, Kendall worked himself into the ground to protect and provide for his women, our mom was afraid of falling in love, even if the one were to ride in on a white stallion and save us all. And me, I had issues with forgiveness. Especially towards Edwin Kurching. The man who had screwed my family over and screwed everything up. I hated him with a burning passion.

Katie puts her head on my chest, burying her face into the muscle. "James, did you know my dad died in a car accident in a thunderstorm" she asks. She'd been 2 months old when he had died, too young to know that I had always been around.

"Yeah" I say. "I was there, remember? I've been Kendall's friends since basically birth. Losing your dad was like losing mine" It was true. I had cried harder than anyone baring Kendall and Mama Knight and Mr. Knight's mother when my mom had told me. Grammy Knight, Kendall's dad's mom, had held onto me and Kendall during the funeral because Kendall was all she had left to link her to her son and I had nearly collapsed during the funeral.

Katie sobs again. I don't like it when Katie cries because that's not what Katie normally is. Katie is brave and confident and knows what she wants in life. She has since she was about 5. She wants to be an entrepreneur. She wants to make millions. She wants to change the world. That is my favorite thing about this little girl, my little sister and possibly my best friend. She's sure of herself and isn't about to let her brothers fame or her own change her at all. She's still Katie, after all these years. She still plays video games that most girls would turn their noses up at, she still loves fish sticks but except for Friday's, eats healthy and bags on fried, greasy foods. She's basically a vegetarian, which I admire but could never do. She's Katie and I love having her around because she hasn't changed at all. Logan's changed, Kendall's changed, Carlos has changed, I have changed. But not Katie. Katie is the constant in my life.

"Hey, Hey, I won't let anything happen to you, Katie" I promise her. "You're my little sister. Maybe not by blood or law, not until tomorrow, but you're still my little sister. I won't let anything hurt you; Kendall's not the only one who loves you enough to protect you." I say, stroking her hair. She's a great girl, and I hope that Edwin Kurching didn't screw up her life too much. If he did, I might have to have Griffin take me human hunting. If you can call a man who leaves a family so broken a human. He certainly didn't have a heart.

Katie looks up at me, and suddenly, she's 10 again, crying on her first night in LA because its so different. She came to me that night too because Kendall was already asleep and Logan and Carlos are hopeless when they're tired. Logan had given her some mathematical logical reasoning on why it was okay and Carlos had just made fun of her because he has no tact. I'd been sitting on our then crappy couch with Mama Knight, telling her about our first day at work, when Katie had sat down in my lap and started crying. She's still that little girl. "Promise you won't let anything happen?" she asks. I nod vigorously, tightening my grip around her. She's relaxing a little, finally feeling safe. That's good, and it's the main goal here. Get her to calm down and maybe fall asleep. I can't have her falling asleep on us tomorrow. I know I won't sleep because Kendall won't be here, but at least she can get some sleep so the entire Knight family doesn't look terrible tomorrow. I know Mama Knight will not be up to her normal standards, she hasn't stopped crying all week.

Lightening flashes again and she buries her head in my chest again, shaking like a leaf. My fists clench and I'm mad. I don't want her to be upset. "Katie, its all okay. Everything will turn out to be fine in the morning and it'll be a beautiful morning. It'll be okay and we'll have a wonderful time tomorrow" I tell her. She looks up at me, trembling. I wish Kendall was here, he'd be able to comfort her so much better than I can. He knows her just a little better, since she's his sister and they have the same DNA to an extent.

"You promise?"

"I promise." I say. I have never been so sure of anything in my life. Katie Knight will be fine, tomorrow is going to be the most gorgeous day, and we're going to have the most amazing time tomorrow. How could this not be true, if I'm going to marry Kendall tomorrow? It could be storming and it would be gorgeous because I'd be looking into his eyes the whole time. "If nothing else, you will survive tonight. I swear."

Slowly, Katie stops trembling and relaxes, falling asleep in my arms. She takes after her mother and she's tiny, not like Kendall, who's muscular and tall. She's only around 5 foot 2 or 3 and she fits perfectly in my arms, like a little sister should. It almost makes me wonder if she was meant to be my little sister. Probably was, since Kendall and I are meant to be. There's something about this family, this beautiful, loving, amazing family, that draws me in. I was always meant to be with them in some way, shape or form. I love them and they love me. What more can one person really ask for.

I've matured since I was 16. I use the cheaper brand of Barracuda, Electric Eel now. I don't HAVE to do my hair first thing when I wake up. Kendall thinks I'm sexy when I have bed head, so I humor him. Kendall thinks I smell good naturally, so it was bye-bye man spray. Kendall doesn't like it when I'm orange. So I don't spray tan anymore. I've learned a lot in the last 5 years.

I know that while fame is good and I love my job, I have Kendall and Katie and Mama Knight for life. I have Carlos and Logan too, unless things really go bad. The 6 of us and maybe Gustavo and Kelly and Logan and Carlos's families. That's all I really need. I guess there's a difference between 15 and 20 that can change even me, the narcissist and make things difference. I guess a committed, 4 year relationship can make a person mature. I guess Kendall just had that affect on me. I guess I was an adult now.

I guess that no matter the thunder and lightening that struck so hard against my family, everything would always turn out okay.

* * *

Katie stands up as I walk into my hotel room the next morning, where everyone is getting ready. Kendall's room is across the hotel, where we will actually be sleeping tonight, this is actually Grammy Knight's hotel room. I love Grammy Knight, she's amazing, I've always loved her, but the fact that she is currently arguing with the hotel management, saying she needs to bake me cookies makes me love her that much more.

Katie darts to me, wrapping her arms around my stomach. Carlos is leaning against the wall, picking at his nail. Camille is sitting on a chair, talking to Mercedes. Their the other member of what Logan calls "The Bridal Party". Kendall has all men because Kendall is Kendall or something along those lines. Carlos's little brother (technically by law, mine) Roberto, who is Katie's age, and then Dak Zevon, who we have become good friends with ever since Katie saved him from those girls and he taught us about stage presence or whatever. The other person is my cousin Shane, who lives in Seattle. He and Mercedes have this thing going on, I think, because they act all flirty. She's grown up a lot too, because Shane and I look pretty similar and she didn't date me because I was too pretty. She's set to inherit her father's position soon because he's going to retire soon and raise Llamas (Griffin has serious issues with his brain or something). She'll do great, I'm pretty positive.

"Thanks for last night" Katie whispers, smiling up at me. I hug her close.

"What, did you think I'd just let you scream all night? Mr. Bitters would be pissed if you did that, you might wake up the twins"

Surprisingly, Mr. Bitters got married to a nice lady and they have a set of twin boys who are two and a 2 month old daughter. She also has a 21 year old daughter named Kylee and a son named Dan. They live in the apartment next to us and they're sweet boys, if a little crazy. His step son is 15 and Katie thinks he's very cute. Maybe I should do a little matchmaking. Mrs. Bitters has managed to Mr. Bitters down a lot and he's actually pretty chill now. I guess it just took the right one.

Katie laughs. "Yeah, probably would not be too happy if he had to deal with the trouble mint twins. Plus, it would wake up the baby too and we all know how she sleeps."

I shudder. Sarah Bitters has quite the set of lungs on her. I think they should teach her Italian because she has a promising future in Opera. Little squirt. She's an adorable kid, her mom was a model and she has these chunky cheeks and big blue eyes but her scream is just insane.

"Yeah. That's true" I say with a smile as Camille and Mercedes get up to help me get ready. I don't need much help, it's not like I have to get into one of those monkey suits that women call wedding dresses but they want to do me up all fancy-like.

Pretty soon, Camille has my hair ready, and Mercedes is doing my tie and Katie is taking pictures like a madwoman and Carlos is attempting to help me not get attacked with make up or something. Who knows with the girls.

We're finally ready to go and Carlos is giggling at a text. "What?" Katie asks, confused.

"Logan says Kendall forgot his pants" Carlos grins. Mercedes and Camille stopped and stare at the Hispanic man, mouths hanging open.

"What?" Mercedes is completely horrified.

"Kendall would" Camille grins. Katie is giggling into my arm.

"He got nervous so he ran out of his room with no pants." Carlos said. "He also stuffed a piece of toast down Dak's pants."

Katie's lost it at this point. "Oh, my big brother. He's such a dork" she giggles as I try to keep from laughing. Kendall has never been nervous in his life, why all of a sudden? I didn't know I had that kind of effect on him.

Carlos finally gets another text. "Okay, Logan just peeled Kendall off the ceiling and their ready to go, which is good because Kendall has to be there in 2 minutes. Who was going to give James away again?"

"Mama Knight was going to" Camille tells him. "She should be here soon. We should go, we have to wait in the front and meet up with the others. " Camille told Mercedes. "We can give Carlos and Katie a moment with their brother"

Mercedes nods, pulling me into a quick hug before heading for the door. "Congratulations, James. You're a lucky man" she says. Camille follows suit, crying too much to say anything. And then they leave, Katie standing behind me, holding onto my arm, Carlos standing next to me.

Katie pulls me into a hug, crying softly. "Katie, don't cry, what's wrong?" I ask, hugging her close.

"I'm so happy and you're going to be so happy. I can't believe this is finally happening. I've wanted you and Kendall to get married since I was 7" Katie says as someone knocks on the door.

Carlos heads for the door, revealing a joyous Logan and a teary eyed Mama Knight. Logan pulls me into a quick hug, muttering congratulations before moving back next to Carlos. Mama Knight pulls me into a hug next, sobbing about how proud my parents would be and all of that parental stuff.

Katie hugs me again after her mom. "Thanks" she whispers again. "I don't know How I'd get through storms without you" she said.

Thunder and Lightening, storms, natural disaster. None of it changes how I feel about Katie Knight. She's my sister and I'd die for her. I love that girl and she deserves the world and I'll hurt anyone who thinks differently.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so I wrote all of this except the wedding stuff like 2 weeks ago and then Reagan reminded me off it. Haha, okay, so yeah, I like this and JAMES IS SO EASY TO WRITE FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE! Haha, okay. I'm good now. Hahaha.

I don't know, review and I'll make a new icon for a pairing of your choice and post it on my tumblr. Okay, yup. Done now.


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